RED returns to Houston with great new record

Nashville rockers RED are returning to Houston to play Warehouse Live on Friday, May 3 and due to a high ticket demand, the all-ages show has been moved into the main ballroom with doors opening at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14 and can be purchased at the venue or online at warehousemusic.com.

With Michael Barnes on vocals, Anthony Armstrong on guitar, twin Randy Armstrong on bass and Joe Rickard on drums, the band is touring in support of their fourth studio album, Release the Panic, which debuted No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart. It’s a follow-up to the 2007 record, Until We Have Faces, which was their highest debut at No. 2.

RED has garnered two Grammy nominations, five GMA Dove Awards, two Top 10 active rock singles, three Top 10 mainstream rock singles and 10 consecutive No. 1 titles on Christian radio, RED is ready to continue their successful journey not only pumping out hit records such as “Breathe into Me,” “Let Go,” Already Over,” “Forever,” “Death of Me,” “Feed the Machine” and “Perfect Life,” but putting on great live performances as well.

We were able to chat with Anthony Armstrong before the tour stopped in Houston.

Website: redmusiconline.com

Facebook.com/redmusiconline

Twitter: @redmusiconline

Interesting title to the new record as well as the lead single on the record. Any meaning behind that?

It’s kind of the state of the world. It’s where we are as individuals and we have been pretty vigilante about what has been going on out there. It’s describing what we are seeing. There’s a lot of confusion, fear and overall panic about a lot of different things. It seems as if things are reaching a boiling point and getting out of control. We aren’t just in the studio making records we are world travelers and get to see a lot of different things. This record is meant to be a soundtrack to get through the day. It’s about releasing those negative energies and focusing on something positive.

Any song in particular off this record you enjoy playing live?

I think it’s a tie right now between two songs — ‘If We Only’ and ‘Release the Panic.’

Since 2006, how as the band been able to stick ‘RED’ music without changing?

It’s not hard for us. From the very beginning all we wanted to do was inspire people and that’s the easiest way to generalize how we write our music. We want to make sure that each record has something really important to say. There is no real hidden agenda, but we are about lifting people up. We try to stay genuine with our lyrics and wrap it with some cool musically and hopefully reach the audience.

You have said it before that the band Audio Adrenaline was a big influence on you. How so?

That was one of my first concert experiences and I was probably 14 or 15 years old. They are super-talented and had some great things to talk about and they definitely helped plant the seed in my head to be a musician.

RED has played tons of music festivals with ‘mainstream’ acts. Have you guys every faced adversity with ‘mainstream’ fans trying to figure out if you guys were rock genre or Christian?

We have faced adversity a lot. Adversity is the name of the game. Not just because we are a group of guys that profess we believe in God, it’s more about ‘what do you have to offer as a band?’ We just need to continue to do what we do as a band and things have a funny way falling in place and they have our entire careers. We keep our guard up, but other than that, we are about doing what RED does.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.